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REVELATIONS 2012-02 (Feb)

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I was wondering your opinion on the New 52. Not the execution, I have a hunch you don't have the time to read much of any of it, but the idea of it.

Although I have found a few books I really like, in general I object to heaving aside continuity and trying to rejam the history back into a too short time frame while wiping out character development. The idea of accessibility is a red herring because if they were capable of sticking to self contain arc inviting to new readers they wouldn't need a reboot to do so. Then again, I came into comics after Crisis on Infinite Earths and am conditioned into thinking it was necessary.

Greg responds...

As you noted, I have NOT had the time to read the New 52, so I will not comment on that specifically. Whether or not it works creatively depends more than anything else on execution. Since I haven't seen the execution, I can't respond to how it works creatively. But I KNOW that commercially it's been a HUGE hit. I like to believe that it wouldn't have done quite so well, if it wasn't executed well too.

But generally, on the idea of reboots, I do have a handful of thoughts:

1. I don't want to be a hypocrite. When we started Spectacular Spider-Man and again on Young Justice, we were effectively doing a continuity reboot. I feel when adapting something to a new media, that's essential, but it doesn't change the fact that (a) we did it and (b) I was relieved to be able to do it. Relieved to be able to jettison elements that I felt didn't work or were redundant or confusing, etc. Our goal, particularly on Spider-Man, was to come up with something Classic, Cohesive, Coherent, Contemporary and Iconic. So how can I object if the comics themselves want to do this?

2. In the end, whether or not either SpecSpidey or YJ was/is successful depends on our execution of our ideas, additions and cullings. I like to think both shows are successful, but that's a judgement each individual viewer would have to make for him or herself.

3. I was working on staff at DC Comics during the publication of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. In fact, during my very first editorial meeting, I raised the question as to why we weren't starting ALL our books over (with the numerical exceptions of Detective and Action Comics) with issue #1. I remember very clearly a collective groan rising up from the conference room table. (They had dealt with this question for months before my arrival.) On the one hand, they wanted Crisis to be a real sea-change, a true reboot (before we knew that term). On the other hand, if you truly reboot Batman, then Robin doesn't exist yet. No Robin, no other sidekicks either. So no Teen Titans. And at the time, the New Teen Titans was the company's best selling book.

4. So the end result was that some things got rebooted and some did not.

5. This was complicated by the fact that certain creators came late to the party, and certain characters got reboots too long AFTER Crisis.

6. And so, as a READER, I couldn't help feeling that - rather than simplifying the continuity - Crisis made it more complicated. This will happen in general, naturally, as time passes and more and more comics are produced by a variety of creators and editors, but Crisis seemed to exacerbate the problem for me personally.

7. In part this was because, I really liked the DC Multiverse. I agree that it was abused to the point of confusion. (And I think it was nuts that Earth TWO had the forties heroes and Earth ONE had the sixties heroes. Just the odd backwards numbering itself created additional unnecessary confusion.) But if limits had been placed on the number of parallel earth stories and crossovers, I think it could have been fine.

8. ESPECIALLY, if they had created a new Earth-THREE, starting over with heroes of the eighties, with Superman and Batman (being new to the hero thing but) remaining relatively constant. But with a new Green Lantern (for example) as different from Hal Jordan as Jordan was from Alan Scott.

9. But that didn't happen. And in fact, though I've read very few comics since 1996, my understanding is that reboots have hit over and over at both DC and Marvel. That negates reader trust in the worth and weight of the stories they're reading. It's more insidious than obvious. And you risk alienating old readers, even as you may or may not attract new ones. You'll always get a short term gain off of a reboot, because everyone wants to check it out. But long term...

10. And going back to my first point - which is that most everything depends on execution - I personally didn't love the execution of some of the post-Crisis rebooting. Some people may have loved it. And that's totally legit. But some of the rethinking on certain individual characters didn't work too well for me.

11. Though personally I think the Bates-Weisman-Broderick reboot on Captain Atom from his Charlton incarnation was brilliant. ;)

12. So, personally, my feeling on reboots in general is that you either do them or you don't. You've got to be thorough and ruthless about it, or don't bother, because otherwise - long term - you're creating more problems than you're solving.

13. And still and all, ultimately, it all depends on execution.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

Most recent comics....so I see how General Eiling could get into Failsafe through the teams experience. That still leaves the question of Bard, and as someone else caught, Reid.

Secret- didn't blow me away like the other recent episodes...but I don't need to be completely blown away each episode. Few things:
1- Loved Mal showing up in Conner's original comic costume... and Conner not liking it. I've always preferred him in a real costume, though in context of the show it makes sense he doesn't have one. (Also loved Marvin the Martian's 'appearance'.)
2- It's been ages since I've reread the original Young Justice comics, but since Peter David also wrote this ep, I guess some connections can be drawn. The connection I seemed to have missed way back when was that Harm actually loved Gretta. Given how he seemed such a sociopath even in childhood flashback, it never occurred to me he killed his sister because he actually cared for her. (He seemed to harbor no such feelings for their parents.) Very vaguely I now remember a scene in Gretta's swiss cheese memory implying a relationship. It leaves me in the awkward position of wanted to reread the books to refresh my memory and not wanting to as not to confuse the show.
3-I was surprised how negatively Artemas reacted to Conner and M'gan's relationship. I had gotten the impression that she was knowingly pursuing Wally. That said, I like Zatanna picking up on it and her general offer and pushing for talking about the various things Artemas has bottled up.
4-I was also surprised that part of the team, well, excluding Wally, still thought Artemas was really Green Arrow's niece. I figured they all just assumed that the League vouched for her. So did Robin figure it out or did Bruce tell him?
5-The description of M'gann's origin differs gratefully with he own words in the comics. Er...I can't think of a single question that wouldn't qualify as a spoiler request.

Greg responds...

4. Robin figured it out. Batman would not have betrayed Artemis' confidence.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Alex Y. writes...

This is a less serious question, but I find myself particularly curious. If Robin and Aqualad hadn't skipped out on the dance to have a meeting with Batman and Red Arrow, what would they have dressed up as?

As a closing note, Secrets was a wonderfully done episode, with many shocking and powerful moments in it(seriously thought the sword was going to kill Harm for a few seconds after it rejected him. Would have been an interesting end, albeit a bit too... gruesome for a kid's show, though the fact that I believed it could happen shows how much you guys take the audience seriously, and I like that)

I also liked the insight into Artemis' character, though it would have been nice for her to open up just a bit... or at least finish that sentence, even if we did know what she was about to say.

Greg responds...

1. I don't know.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

In "failsafe" during the scene where red arrow Zatanna are getting ready, and Garth and Tula come through the teleporter, who is the other girl standing next to Zatanna?

Greg responds...

Rocket.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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warrior93 writes...

1. why did ya'll deleted some of my questions?

2. Do durlans exist on earth 16?

3. Are the light members equal or is there a rank?

Greg responds...

1. I didn't. If our moderator did, it was because you broke one of our rules.

2. SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

3. They're equals.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Dude from NYC writes...

I liked Queen Mera, will she make more appearances?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Greetings Mr. Weisman,
I want you to know Young Justice is my favorite new show on cartoon network and that I LOVED the episode "Secrets," it was SO CREEPY that I almost forgot I was watching a cartoon (which in alot of ways is better than live action in my opinion lol). Harm was one seriously spooky bad guy, super powers and magic sword aside, what made him truly horrifying was how he came across as a realistic sociopath, a monster you could, god forbid, encounter in real life as opposed to a killer android or alien invader, etc. He wasn't scary because of his powers & magic sword, he was scary because he was a madman who just happened to acquire super powers to go along with his already impressive skills (worse possible scenario for the good guys). What I'd like to ask is...

1) Did Harm's super powers, his crazy strength & invulnerability, come from the Sword of Beowulf along with the lightning bolt attacks or were they powers he already possessed? I only ask because I was confused by the scene where Gretta removed the tattoo mark from over his heart...I know Harm lost control over the sword when Gretta shook his resolve & made him feel guilt, but was the tattoo the physical manifestation of his link to the Sword or was it somekind of magic seal he already had in place to grant him all those other powers?

2) Where did Harm learn his fighting skills? He had to have received training in martial arts and swordsmanship from someone right? Or did he seriously teach himself all those fighting moves? Which, if that is the case, is pretty damn scary in and of itself O_O

3) Where were Harm's and Gretta's folks? Did Harm kill them too or were they orphans?

Greg responds...

1. His super-human abilities came from the Sword. She didn't take his tattoo. You misinterpreted the action.

2. He's mostly self-taught... through fighting others.

3. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Will we ever see a depiction of the planet Krypton on YJ?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Young Justice Fan writes...

Love Secrets! Just wished it showed more of Artemis past. Anyway loved it can't wait until next episode.
Anyway just curious though, why was Artemis upset when she realized Miss. M. and Supperboy were a couple. was it A)She is crushing on Superboy? B)She sees Miss. M. as a sister/close friend and thought she would tell her if they were dating? or C)We will see why in a future episode?
Please give me a reason. Thanks:)

Greg responds...

A and B and more. It's complicated.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Hey Greg,

I've got a curious questions to ask you.

a. Young Justice is classified as Earth-16 in the DC multiverse, although there had been contradictory information about this version of Earth prior to the announcement that the show would take place here. The first contraction claims that Earth-16 was the home of the Super-Sons (Superman Jr. and Batman Jr.) as indicated by early material such as DC Nation Issue #89. The second contradiction, which ruled out the Super-Sons continuity, claims that an alternate version of Superman (who was called Christopher Kent) was a native to this universe, as indicated by "Countdown: Arena" (This was a four-issue comic book series). This leads me to my question: When you decided you use Earth-16 for your show, did you (and your team) noticed these contradictions before when working on your ideas for the show, and did you set up some kind of story-wise explanation as to how these contradictions were removed?

b. At the end of "Schooled," Professor Ivo managed to evade The Team. However, in "Terrors," he somehow winds up in Belle Reve. Will this somehow be explained in a later episode of the show or in a future comic issue?

c. Miss Martian, as with all other Martians, are vulnerable to fire. However, in "Revelation," after Robin destroys the Ivy's plant transmitter, she was shown next to Robin and small flames were around them from the destruction of the transmitter. Interestingly, she was not shown to be vulnerable at that time. Was that some kind of mistake?

Thanks for reading.

Greg responds...

a. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

b. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

c. The flames weren't that close and/or weren't giving off that much heat.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012


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